Dr. Kelly Dalton has been named founding director of the Saints’ Center for Service at Marymount University, which opens with the fall semester to support, promote and coordinate service opportunities across campus. Her appointment was announced by Dr. William Ehmann, provost and vice president for academic affairs and enrollment management.
Her responsibilities will include establishing the Saints’ Center as the one-stop clearinghouse for students and partners passionate about service, helping to measure and assess learning that comes through service and projecting service as one of the pillars of a Marymount education.
“I was drawn to Marymount because the University is built upon the values of intellectual curiosity, service and a global perspective,” Dalton said. “I have built my life around these values and when the opportunity arose to help shape the culture of community-engaged learning, I knew this was the perfect fit for me.”
The sixth-generation Arlington resident was an adjunct professor in MU’s Malek School of Health Professions in 2012. She is impressed with the opportunities Saints have to travel the world, deepen their faith and engage in meaningful service.
Dalton holds a Ph.D. in education from George Mason University and has served as director of its Nonprofit Fellow Program in the School of Integrative Studies. She has also held the positions of assistant director of the Center for Social Action and Integrative Learning and alternative break coordinator. A registered dietitian, she holds a master’s degree in nutrition education and behavior and a bachelor’s degree in human nutrition, foods and exercise from Virginia Tech.
“Dr. Dalton has experience building meaningful service opportunities in local, domestic and international communities,”” Ehmann said, noting that she is an international education volunteer with HELPS International, Quiche Province, Guatemala, as well as a delegate for Global Peacemaking Program Intersection International.
“Our goal with the Center is to ensure that each of our graduates has a significant service experience that they will carry forward and that their sense of service will last a lifetime,” Ehmann said.
“I am incredibly honored to be selected as director of the Saints’ Center for Service,” Dalton said. “My hope is that all members of the Marymount Community will think of this center as an evolving and inclusive place where they can share ideas, collaborate, explore, question and take action to build a more equitable and just world.”
